'Jaish using deep sea divers to target Indian Navy warships'

Senior sources in the Indian Navy have warned of a new modus operandi being used by Jaish terrorists

Intelligence sources warned that terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad may be planning to attack Indian Navy warships

The group is reportedly using deep sea divers to strike Indian Navy’s strategic assets underwater

NEW DELHI, India - An Indian intelligence report has revealed a strategic change in the modus operandi for attacks being used by Pakistan-based terrorist organizations - which could threaten Indian Navy warships.

India's Multi Agency Centre which coordinates intelligence between security agencies has processed the intelligence report which reportedly indicates how the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad may be planning an attack on Indian Navy warships using deep sea divers.

According to the intelligence alert, details of which were published in prominent Indian media reports, the countrys Navy is seriously assessing the warning about the new method being employed by Pakistan based terror groups Lashkar-a-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

The intelligence alert reportedly indicates that a group of Jaish terrorists are presently trained in deep sea techniques in Bahawalpur, Pakistan to launch Pathankot style attacks on India.

It further warns that these terrorists may be planning to "target strategic assets of the (Indian) Navy, and are being given underwater attack training and deep sea techniques to attack an Indian Naval base.

However, a report in NDTV pointed out that so far, it remains unclear whether "strategic" has been used in a generic manner to indicate a threat to Navy warships.

Experts pointed out that strategic assets of the Navy could also imply a threat to India's most sensitive military assets - its ballistic missile submarines, the INS Arihant and INS Arighat, which are designed to fire nuclear-tipped submarine launched ballistic missiles.

According to report, both submarines and the Russian-built nuclear attack submarine INS Chakra are based in Visakhapatnam.

The report quoted sources as indicating that the threat is "specific" and Naval bases have been alerted.

However, senior Navy sources quoted in the report also pointed out that India's Naval bases and ports have a multi-layered security grid with sonar systems that are deployed on approaches to harbours.

These systems are reportedly specifically designed to detect deep sea divers.

Meanwhile, a report in DNA cited inputs received by the government, which further revealed that a group of at least 10 terrorists are waiting near launching pads at Kel, Aathmukam, Dudhnihal and Leepa Valley to infiltrate into the valley.

The recent alert comes merely a month after Indian intelligence agencies learned that 20 militants mostly affiliated to LeT were plotting to attack the annual Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage.

Intelligence agencies in the country had reportedly been informed that the terrorists have sneaked into the valley in two groups from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Following the terror alert, security was tightened for the pilgrimage this year, in a bid to thwart any possible terror strike.

Currently, CRPF, Indian Army, and Jammu and Kashmir Police have maintained a strict vigil.

Indian law enforcement bodies have claimed that the alert was taken more seriously since last year, about ten devotees, including six women from Gujarat and Maharashtra lost their lives after LeT militants launched a terror attack on a bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims.

Terrorists struck the bus near Khanabal when it was on its way to from Srinagar-Jammu.

Before that, in 2001, the Amarnath yatra was targeted by terrorists, who killed 13 people after launching a strike in the Sheshnag area, which is close to the holy cave of Amarnath.

A year before that, in 2000, terrorists targeted Amarnath pilgrims in Pahalgam area and killed 30 people, including journalists.

With regard to the recent change in modus operandi, global experts claim that Navies around the world are aware of and acknowledge the threat posed to capital warships when they are in port or anchored out at sea.

Pointing to the obvious vulnerability, experts explained that large warships cannot defend themselves effectively against underwater threats in confined spaces like ports and dockyards since they are unable to manoeuvre in tight spaces.

One of the most prominent known underwater strike in modern history took place in the year 2,000 when Al Qaeda terrorists rammed an explosives-laden boat into the destroyer USS Cole as it was refuelling at the port of Aden in Yemen, killing 17 U.S. Navy sailors.